This mobile home on Lakeview Lane in Hall County went up in flames before dawn on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Hall County Fire Rescue)
A Hall County resident was burned out of their mobile home early Thursday, and now the fire marshal’s office is trying to determine what caused the fire.
The blaze broke out before dawn at a residence in the 4500 block of Lakeview Lane, says Hall County Fire Rescue Public Information Officer Kimberlie Ledsinger.
Around 3:30 a.m., firefighters were dispatched to reports of a fully involved mobile home fire. When the first engine arrived, the home was fully engulfed in flames. Ledsinger says firefighters brought the fire under control within 20 minutes.
The resident escaped the burning home before firefighters arrived and was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
“They were not transported and were okay at the scene,” Ledsinger says.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time. The Hall County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating. The American Red Cross was notified to assist the displaced resident.
The Centegix badge alert system is being installed to enhance safety in White County's six public schools. (Centegix promotional video screengrab)
The White County Board of Education is implementing a new crisis alert system, Centegix, to enhance safety and security measures across its six schools. The decision, announced Monday night, follows the board’s July 29, 2022, vote to hire two additional School Resource Officers, ensuring an officer presence in each school.
The Centegix system provides every staff member with a badge equipped with a button that can be used to call for help in various situations. If the button is pushed a specific number of times, it can automatically lock down the school and contact 9-1-1 dispatch.
White County School Superintendent Dr. Laurie Burkett and Assistant Superintendent Jonathan Stribling talk with WRWH Radio’s Dean Dyer about school safety improvements in White County. (Photo courtesy WRWH.com)
“Not only does this new system send out an alert for help it also provides the exact location of where that staff member is,” said Superintendent Dr. Laurie Burkett, emphasizing the system’s precision in responding to emergencies.
The system, which is used at Apalachee High School in Winder, was widely credited with saving lives by prompting a quick law enforcement response after a 14-year-old student opened fire inside the school on Sept. 4.
White County Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jonathan Stribling said the implementation of Centegix will begin immediately. However, he said it would take a while to get every aspect of the system operational. The school system hopes to have the alert system fully working by the first of next year.
FILE PHOTO - Expanded abortion services are currently being provided after a judge’s ruling that Georgia’s six-week ban is unconstitutional. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has asked the state Supreme Court to block that ruling while the state’s appeal is pending. (Riley Bunch/GPB News)
(Georgia Recorder) — Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has asked the state Supreme Court to allow Georgia’s six-week abortion ban to be enforced again while the state’s appeal is being considered.
The six-week ban was tossed aside Monday when Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert C. I. McBurney ruled that it conflicts with the Georgia Constitution’s privacy and liberty protections.
Georgia’s 2019 law bans most abortion once fetal cardiac activity is detected, which is about six weeks into a pregnancy and before most women know they are pregnant. McBurney’s ruling resurrected Georgia’s previous law, which allows abortions until about 20 weeks.
Carr has appealed the ruling and is arguing that more harm would be done by letting expanded abortion services continue while the appeal is pending than not.
“The harm to the State and the public is significant and irreparable, as unborn children are at risk every day that the injunction continues. This Court granted a stay in nearly identical circumstances two years ago, and it should do the same here,” reads the state’s petition for emergency intervention.
The state’s attorneys argue that the ban should be restored because they say the state is likely to succeed in having the lower court’s ruling overturned, partly because they argue the Georgia Constitution is – and always has been – silent on abortion.
And the state pushed back on McBurney’s conclusion that the law’s treatment of pregnant women with a psychiatric crisis amounts to a violation of the state’s equal protection clause, arguing state lawmakers are not bound to treat the two identically.
“As before, every day that illegal abortions continue is another day that the lives of tiny, unique individuals are ended. There are toddlers alive today because this Court stayed the superior court’s previous order,” the state’s attorneys wrote in Wednesday’s filing.
The move was expected – it’s what the state requested back in 2022 when McBurney first ruled the ban unconstitutional – but attorneys and advocates on the other side of the case had hoped the state would let the lower court’s ruling stand.
Abortion rights supporters have blamed the six-week ban for the deaths of two pregnant women who died trying to have an abortion in the months after the law first took effect in 2022. Recent revelations about their deaths have reignited debate over Georgia’s law, specifically its medical emergency exception for mothers, that has spilled onto the national stage.
Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, which is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a statement Wednesday that she was disappointed but not surprised by the state’s request to “reinstate this deadly abortion ban.”
“Time and time again, we see anti-abortion extremists using our bodies for political gain instead of advocating for the safety and health of all Georgians,” Simpson said.
“This abortion ban has forced Georgians to spend hundreds traveling across state lines and stole the lives of Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller. This extremist crusade only further disregards our bodily autonomy, our lives, and our dignity.”
Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, which is part of the legal team challenging the law, said the state is taking an “extreme position to have control over decisions about reproductive rights.”
“We have already seen the tragic consequences of this extreme policy and we will continue to fight in the courts and at the ballot box,” Young said.
But anti-abortion advocates have blasted the attempts to tie the women’s deaths to the controversial 2019 law and accused Democrats of trying to capitalize on the tragedies.
Hall County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Flowery Branch man this week on additional child sexual exploitation counts stemming from an investigation that began in 2023, the sheriff’s office says.
Deputies took Caleb A. Moore-Rosario, 39, into custody at his residence on Bridle Creek Drive on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 1.
During a search earlier this year, the sheriff’s office seized an external hard drive from Moore-Rosario. Through forensic processing of the device, investigators say they discovered at least three videos and two images of child sexual abuse material. They charged him with five additional felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Tuesday’s arrest is Moore-Rosario’s second since the Hall County Sheriff’s Office and Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force began investigating him. Authorities first arrested him on April 30 on one felony count of sexual exploitation of a minor after ICAC got a cybertip about his alleged online activities.
The additional charges bring the total counts against him to six.
Deputies booked Moore-Rosario into the Hall County Jail, where he remained held without bond on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 2.
The historic English family cabin at the Mauldin House and Gardens in Clarkesville is decorated and ready to welcome visitors to the city's 2nd annual History Harvest & Fall Festival from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (Clarkesville Main Street/Facebook)
Get ready for a day of history, crafts, and community fun at the 2nd Annual History Harvest and Fall Festival.
The festival will take place on Saturday, October 5, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the historic Mauldin House and Gardens and on the downtown Clarkesville square.
This year’s event will feature a variety of historical artisans, authors, and speakers. Festivalgoers can enjoy book signings, hands-on crafts, and demonstrations. Singer Katie Deal will provide live music throughout the day.
Other activities include craft vendors, food trucks, bouncy houses, and an evening concert by the band Wheelmen.
Festival lineup (click to enlarge)
Festival map (Source: Clarkesville Main Street)
The History Harvest and Fall Festival is free and open to the public. It is presented by the City of Clarkesville and is part of the city’s larger Fall Festival Series. Other upcoming events include:
Oct 12: Soque Greenway Trail Festival 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Oct 19: Soque River Fine Arts Festival 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Governor Bill Lee talks about the catastrophic flooding and death in East Tennessee flooding from Hurricane Helene.
Patrick C.Sheehan, Director of Tennessee Emergency Management speaks to the press.
(John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
(Tennessee Lookout) — The state is conducting criminal and workplace investigations into the deaths of three people at an East Tennessee plastics plant where workers say management forced them to remain at the factory as floodwater from Hurricane Helene rose to dangerous levels.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is probing the deaths at the request of an East Tennessee district attorney general, and the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) is looking into the matter to determine the circumstances that led to fatalities. The TBI investigation supersedes TOSHA’s jurisdiction, but the workplace safety agency will work with TBI to determine when it can start an on-site inspection of the Unicoi County plant.
State law gives an employer eight hours to notify TOSHA about workplace fatalities, but the administration said it had not received a fatality report from Impact Plastics by Wednesday, more than five days after the deaths.
Three workers died and three remain missing after the flood swept them away at the Erwin plant, according to reports. All told, 11 Tennesseans are dead and 23 are missing in what is being described as a “historic” flood, according to the emergency officials.
President Joe Biden deployed 1,000 active-duty troops to the storm-ravaged region Wednesday and the Federal Emergency Management Agency made disaster assistance available to Tennessee for recovery in eight counties hit the hardest, meaning grant money can be used for temporary housing, storm repairs, low-cost loans for uninsured property losses and other programs to help business owners recover.
Gov. Bill Lee confirmed Wednesday at a Nashville press conference the TBI is conducting an investigation into the deaths. The state probe should reveal whether there were problems with workers being required to remain at the plant until it was too late to escape the floodwater, Lee said.
The state agency said agents started looking into allegations involving Impact Plastics at the request of District Attorney General Steve Finney of Washington County.
Finney said in a statement he requested the state review the Friday incident to “identify any potential criminal violations.”
“At no time were employees told that they would be fired if they left the facility. For employees who were non-English speaking, bilingual employees were among the group of managers who delivered the message,” said a Monday statement from Impact Plastics.
The investigation is expected to determine whether Impact Plastics management refused to send workers home soon enough to escape as the Erwin industrial park flooded rapidly or made them believe they weren’t allowed to leave in time to get out alive.
Impact Plastics spokesperson Tony Treadway said Wednesday the company is aware of the investigation and will cooperate though it hasn’t been contacted. The company is conducting its own internal review of the day and timelines and will release it when available, Treadway said.
Impact Plastics sent out a press release early this week expressing “sympathy for the missing and deceased employees,” according to WJHL.
“We are devastated by the tragic loss of great employees,” Impact Plastics founder Gerald O’Connor said in the release. “Those who are missing or deceased, and their families are in our thoughts and prayers.”
The company started monitoring weather conditions Friday after heavy rain the previous night, and management sent workers home when the plant lost power and water began to cover the parking lot and a nearby service road, according to the release.
“At no time were employees told that they would be fired if they left the facility. For employees who were non-English speaking, bilingual employees were among the group of managers who delivered the message,” according to the statement.
While most workers left the facility, some stayed at the plant or nearby for “unknown reasons,” the statement says. It noted that senior management and assistants were the last to leave after remaining in the building to save company records, assess the impact of flooding on the plant and ensure workers left.
Some workers left the industrial park in a truck driven by a neighboring company’s employee, and other Impact Plastics employees reportedly used a railroad track behind the plant to leave because of high water at the facility’s front.
“Due to the quickly rising water, the truck tipped over and five employees and a contractor aboard the truck went missing,” the release says. “Five others who were also on the truck when it tipped over made it to safety and were later evacuated.
A National Guard helicopter also was sent at the request of senior management to look for other workers and airlifted five to safety, according to the release.
The company, which plans to reopen at some point, was organizing a recovery center for workers to provide information on benefits and job opportunities, the release says.
Search for missing continues
Six days after the flood hit, Gov. Lee said the response requires a “herculean effort,” as searches continue for missing people.
“We’re in the middle of what is a remarkably difficult and tragic unfolding in East Tennessee, and there is a remarkable effort to meet the needs of those folks,” said Lee, who has visited the disaster areas twice.
The governor noted he declared an emergency Friday afternoon after the worst of the flooding took place and pointed out nobody could have predicted the epic event.
Tennessee Emergency Management Agency started holding briefings with county emergency officials as early as Wednesday last week, followed by a statewide weather briefing on Thursday.
TEMA Director Patrick Sheehan said he initiated a level IV state of emergency Thursday afternoon and asked for an emergency declaration based on conditions, then an expedited major disaster declaration with the federal government to increase local services.
Asked if better communication was needed to speed up evacuations, based on weather forecasts predicting major flooding, Sheehan responded that “catastrophic flood warnings” were issued in North Carolina primarily, not Tennessee.
Sheehan pointed out, though he gave press briefings Thursday talking about the potential for flooding and cautioning people who live in low-lying areas to be prepared.
Supply center set
Bristol Motor Speedway opened its facility as a staging point for supplies, and all donations are to be sent there. Numerous churches, nonprofit agencies and residents are getting involved as well, he said, along with local law enforcement and emergency response departments in the most affected counties, Washington, Carter, Unicoi, Johnson, Greene and Cocke.
Nearly 400 National Guard personnel are working the flood scenes, operating airlifts with Blackhawk helicopters to provide supplies to cut-off residents whose roads are washed out. Another 400 Department of Transportation employees are working in the region, inspecting 300 bridges and miles of roads, and 200 Highway Patrol troopers are supplementing local law enforcement.
The state reopened 25 of 48 sections of closed highways, and seven of 13 shutdown bridges have been opened for passage. One bridge on state Route 351 will require a long-term repair, and five other bridges that were destroyed will have to be rebuilt.
The cost is expected to be hundreds of millions of dollars, and Tennessee could tap into emergency federal funds to rebuild highways and bridges, according to Transportation Commissioner Butch Eley.
In addition, the state inspected 102 locally-owned bridges, 12 of which were washed out.
A Carter County road shows decimation from the results of flood waters. (Brandon Hull/Office of the Governor)
Officials said at one point more than 1.2 million gallons of water per second flowed over the Nolichucky Dam, dwarfing the amount that goes over Niagara Falls, which has a peak daily flow of 700,000 gallons per second.
To speed up work on damaged roads, the state signed four construction contracts and four debris removal contracts to enable workers to start rebuilding. More contracts are expected to be awarded in the coming weeks.
The region was down to 1,400 power outages Wednesday from 5,000 on Tuesday, but communications remained sketchy, especially in Carter County. The state was working with communications companies to bring systems back online.
The state is opening multi-agency response centers in affected counties, where people can go for services such as driver’s license renewals, food assistance or help from the Department of Human Services and Department of Children’s Services, according to the governor.
Sheehan said Wednesday more than 600 homes were damaged in four counties, 120 of which were destroyed. Another 313 had major damage, and the numbers are expected to increase, he said.
As people start to return to their homes, Sheehan warned them to beware of toxic sludge and wear proper gear.
The state opened a crisis clean-up hotline at 844-965-1386.
People are encouraged to document damage, call insurance companies and gather important documents.
Donation sites also are being set up in affected counties. Information on those and more flood-related news is expected to be available on the TEMA website, tn.gov/tema.
Congress is in recess in the leadup to Election Day, but will return afterward for a lame-duck session. Pictured is the U.S. Capitol on March 14, 2024. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — Members of Congress left Capitol Hill last week to focus their attention on the campaign trail during the six weeks leading up to Election Day, leaving much of their work unfinished.
The Republican House and Democratic Senate are scheduled to remain on recess until Nov. 12, though the urgent needs created in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which are fully funded for the moment, could bring the chambers back into session before then.
When lawmakers do return to Washington, D.C., they’ll need to address the must-pass legislation they’ve left on autopilot instead of negotiating new bipartisan compromises.
So far this year, lawmakers have pushed off reaching brokering agreement on must-pass measures like the farm bill as well as this year’s batch of government funding bills and the annual defense policy legislation.
Kids’ online safety, radiation exposure
There are also a handful of measures that have passed one chamber with broad bipartisan support, but haven’t been taken up on the other side of the Capitol that leadership could decide to move forward during November or December.
For example, an interesting combination of senators, led by Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn, are advocating for House Republican leaders to hold votes on a pair of online safety bills designed to better protect children from the darker side of the internet.
The rail safety bill drafted by a bipartisan group of senators from Ohio and Pennsylvania after the train derailment in East Palestine remains unaddressed following more than a year of intransigence.
And legislation to reauthorize the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, which passed the Senate on a broadly bipartisan vote earlier this year, sits on a shelf collecting dust in the House.
Cancer victims, Indigenous communities and many others have pressed House GOP leadership to hold a vote to reauthorize the program after it expired this summer, but they have avoided it due to cost.
Five-week lame duck
Lawmakers interviewed by States Newsroom and congressional leaders all indicated the outcome of the November elections will have significant sway on what Congress approves during the five-week lame-duck session that spans November and December.
All interviews took place before Hurricane Helene made landfall and Israel was directly attacked by Iran, both of which are likely to be at the top of congressional leaders’ to-do lists.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune said it’s “hard to say” what, if anything, Congress will approve during the lame-duck session.
“I think a lot will be shaped by what happens in November,” the South Dakota Republican said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said just a day before Hurricane Helene made landfall that Democrats would advocate for passing natural disaster response funding previously requested by the Biden administration.
“Extreme weather events are on the rise and they affect everyone — in blue states, purple states and red states,” Jeffries said. “This is not a partisan issue, it’s an American issue in terms of being there, in times of need for everyday Americans, who have had their lives and livelihood upended.”
Other House Democratic priorities during the lame duck include approving the dozen full-year government funding bills that were supposed to be completed before Oct. 1, the defense policy bill that had the same deadline and the farm bill, which is more than a year overdue.
Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley said he “sure hopes” the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act reauthorization bill reaches the president’s desk before the end of the year.
He didn’t rule out lobbying to attach it to a must-pass government funding bill, but said the real hurdle is House GOP leaders.
“It doesn’t need help in the Senate. It just needs the House,” Hawley said. “I’ve had good, productive conversations with Speaker (Mike) Johnson in the last few weeks, and I appreciate his personal engagement on this, and I hope that that will lead to action.”
Haley said the House allowing RECA to expire, preventing people who qualify for the program from receiving benefits, was “outrageous.”
Defense priorities, farm bill
Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said staff would work during October to bridge the differences between the two chambers on the annual defense policy bill, called the National Defense Authorization Act.
Those staff-level talks will lay the foundation for Republicans and Democrats to meet once they return to Capitol Hill following the elections.
“We have to be ready when we come back to go right to the ‘Big Four’ meeting,” he said, referring to the top leaders in both chambers. “That’s our objective.”
Reed said many of the differences between the House and the Senate aren’t typical Defense Department policy issues per se, but are “more political, cultural, social.”
Congress may begin to debate additional military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine this year, though that’s more likely to happen next year, Reed said.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said she was making a “big push” for the House and Senate to reach agreement on the farm bill in the months ahead, though she cautioned talks don’t actually constitute a conference.
“I wouldn’t call it a conference; technically to have a conference, you have to have a bill passed by the House and a bill passed by the Senate, which will not happen,” Stabenow said.
“But I believe that there is a way,” Stabenow added. “I believe there’s a way to get a bipartisan bill.”
Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, the top Republican on the Agriculture panel, said lawmakers didn’t need the election results to “start working through our disagreements” on the farm bill, adding there’s some new momentum in talks.
“I think what’s changed is that there is a recognition among members, all members, how difficult it is right now as a farmer,” Boozman said. “So that’s really what’s changed in the last three or four months. It’s developing a real sense of urgency for these folks.”
Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst said the election outcome could influence what lawmakers choose to accomplish during the lame-duck session.
“There’s any number of scenarios, whether it’s NDAA, whether it’s farm bill, whether it’s anything else,” she said. “But it comes down to Leader Schumer.” New York Democrat Chuck Schumer is the majority leader in the Senate.
Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said he expects Congress will broker some agreement on government funding legislation and the NDAA, but not necessarily anything else.
“In an odd way, the better the Dems do on Nov. 5, the more we’ll get done,” Kaine said. “Because I think if the House is going to flip back to Dem, I think the Rs will say, ‘Well, let’s get a whole lot of stuff done before the House goes down.’ So I think the better we do, the more we’ll get done in the lame duck.”
Kaine said if Democrats do well in the elections, they might not need to approve additional aid for Ukraine this Congress, since that funding can last into next year.
“If we don’t do well in the (elections), we might need to do it in the lame duck,” Kaine said. “So that’ll all depend.”
A Subaru Forester blocks the right lane of southbound US 441/GA 15 at Travis Smith Road after an accident Wednesday morning . (Jerry Neace/NowHabersham.com)
The Georgia State Patrol cited a teenage driver for failing to yield following a two-vehicle wreck Wednesday morning on US 441/GA 15.
The accident occurred around 8 a.m. at the intersection of Travis Smith Road in the Turnerville community.
Troopers say 16-year-old Hayes Free of Clarkesville was driving a Subaru Forester east on Travis Smith Road, attempting to turn left onto GA 15. The GSP accident report states that he failed to yield the right of way to a southbound Ford Expedition driven by 61-year-old Ann Cain of Lakemont.
The Subaru struck the Expedition’s passenger side, sending it onto the east shoulder of the highway. The Subaru came to rest in the intersection.
According to the accident report, another driver witnessed the crash and described what happened to troopers.
The wreck temporarily blocked the southbound lanes during the Wednesday morning commute as emergency crews cleared the scene. Troopers say Free complained of injuries, but the GSP report shows Habersham EMS did not transport anyone from the scene.
Developer Casey Moye presents details of proposed townhome project to the Cornelia City Commission. (Brian Wellmeier/Now Habersham)
More than 200 townhome units could start to be constructed in Cornelia over the course of the next few years.
At a public hearing during Cornelia’s regular meeting Tuesday, Oct 1, applicant Casey Moye proposed between 188-200 townhomes on 36 acres off Level Grove Road just outside Cornelia’s city limits. Moye said the development would be constructed in phases over the course of multiple years, with 50 units built each year.
The site of the proposed development (1900 Level Grove Rd.) is under a mile from Level Grove Elementary and just over a mile from the intersection of Level Grove and US 441.
“You’re looking at controlled growth,” Moye said. “More or less, they’re all going to be sold. There’s going to be no rentals…that’s all contractual.”
Cornelia’s Commission approved a posting of an ordinance for annexation of the property into the city, with the proposed rezoning of R-II (multifamily) scheduled to be considered a month from now.
“Next month, there will be a second hearing on the annexation,” City Manager Dee Anderson said. “Then, at that time, there will be a hearing on the zoning as well.”
If approved, the 1,800 square-foot townhouse units would consist of Hardie board and rock siding finishes with two car garages.
Amenities could include a dog park, playgrounds and green space, according to Moye, who said prices of the homes would range between $290,000-$310,000.
If the project proceeds, Anderson said there would be two access points to the development from Level Grove Road.
Water and sewer line connections to the site would be paid and provided by the developer with the project’s approval.
Public comment
Homeowner Melany Herrin was the first to speak on behalf of her and her husband during the public hearing.
“This property backs up to mine and my husband’s property, and I want to make sure – whatever you do – that we will not be affected by this annexation,” Herrin said. “Also, I want to make sure there’s a traffic study done. During the school year, you have a lot of traffic coming up and down there.”
City officials advised Herrin that her property would not be annexed into the city of Cornelia, if the project were to be approved, and a traffic study would be conducted as required.
Donna Shirley also went before commissioners and requested certain conditions if the development were approved, specifically a buffer between her property and the site where the project is proposed. “That was my main concern,” she said.
At least two residents spoke during a public hearing over a proposed townhome project in Cornelia Tuesday, Oct. 1. (Brian Wellmeier/Now Habersham)
Anderson said commissioners are expected to stipulate a series of conditions, including vegetative buffering between the property and surrounding homes.
The Torch Pastor Mike Franklin – an owner of the property sold to Moye – spoke of his role in guiding the style of the project to commissioners. His vision, he said, is a “nice residential unit for the community.”
“That’s my role in this: is trying to be a buffer and then benefit the church in the process,” Franklin said. “…the church owned all of this (land) first.”
Franklin’s involvement in the deal, he told Now Habersham after the meeting, is to “control the quality” of future development in Habersham County.
“I want to see something that benefits the county,” he said. “I want something that benefits the city. If it’s not going to benefit the city and the county, I’m not going to have it. I’m a Habershamian. I want to live here.”
The Torch Pastor Mike Franklin speaks to Cornelia’s City Commission. (Brian Wellmeier/Now Habersham)
(Georgia Recorder) — Conditions in Georgia prisons are so bad that they violate the Constitutional rights of inmates against cruel and unusual punishment, according to the United States Justice Department, and the state is “deliberately indifferent” to the unsafe conditions.
A Justice Department report released Monday says a lawsuit from Attorney General Merrick Garland could be coming soon if the state does not correct problems flagged by the Justice Department, which says a lack of staffing – with vacancy rates above 60% or 70% at several larger and more dangerous prisons – as well as a feeling of the inevitability of violence among workers and leadership, contribute to “systemic violence and chaos.”
“It is plainly evident, from not only the staffing levels and crime in the prisons but also by the prevalence of harm, that Georgia exposes the people it incarcerates to a substantial risk of serious harm, and that (the Georgia Department of Corrections’) policies and practices have failed to address the pervasive problems,” the report finds. “Georgia has known of the substantial risk of serious harm presented by widespread violence and sexual abuse in its prisons, but rather than address the violence, it has failed to take reasonable steps to address those unconstitutional conditions.”
In an email, Georgia Department of Corrections communications director Joan Heath said the department is “extremely disappointed” to learn of the accusations, arguing the DOJ ignored efforts from state corrections staff and initiatives to improve conditions.
“Contrary to DOJ’s allegations, the State of Georgia’s prison system operates in a manner exceeding the requirements of the United States Constitution. In short, the Notice Letter focuses on the challenges faced by prison systems across our country – correctional staffing, violence perpetuated by inmates, and unlawful gang activity. These issues also plague the Federal Bureau of Prisons – DOJ’s own prison system. Hence, DOJ’s findings today reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the current challenges of operating any prison system.”
“The GDC fully cooperated with DOJ’s investigation and will continue to do so as we begin discussions with DOJ over next steps,” Heath continued. “As history demonstrates, DOJ’s track record in prison oversight is poor – often entangling systems in years of expensive and unproductive court monitoring. As merely one example, court monitoring instigated by DOJ at Riker’s Island remains on-going after eight years, despite the fact that New York City employs one jail officer for every inmate at Riker’s Island.”
The federal report includes descriptions of numerous assaults, including beatings stabbings, rapes and acts of torture. The report finds that the homicide rate in Georgia prisons in 2019 was nearly triple that of the national average, and “the numbers of homicides have increased precipitously since then.”
The authors find that other serious and life-threatening incidents are “exponentially more frequent,” and that from January 2022 through April 2023, there were more than 1,400 reported incidents of violence in Georgia’s medium- and close-security prisons, and that the actual number is likely higher because of incidents going unreported or improperly classified in reports.
In interviews at 16 of the 17 prisons visited by federal investigators, inmates consistently reported seeing life-threatening violence and that weapons were widespread. The report notes that Walker State Prison, a smaller prison in Rock Spring, with a more rehabilitative programming and a higher proportion of security staff positions filled, was the exception.
In addition, gangs have “unacceptable levels of control over large sections of Georgia’s prison system,” and the Justice Department says the correction department’s lack of a centralized approach to dealing with gangs exacerbates the problem, contributing to violence and criminal activity and posing a danger to both inmates and staff.
The report indicates that sexual assault and rape are “rampant” among incarcerated people, and that LGBTQ inmates are particularly vulnerable. The Justice Department alleges that Georgia corrections does not sufficiently screen or house LGBTQ prisoners to protect them from harm.
The report credits the corrections department for taking steps to fix some of its problems, including raising salaries and creating new roles, but it says the efforts have been inadequate to provide minimally adequate constitutional protections.
WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — Sweeping legislation that would set food and farm policy for the next five years is in limbo, waiting for lawmakers to decide its fate after the election.
The latest deadline for the farm bill passed unceremoniously at midnight on Sept. 30, without a push from lawmakers to pass a new farm bill or an extension.
Congress will have to scramble in the lame-duck session set to begin Nov. 12 to come up with some agreement on the farm bill before benefits run out at the end of the year — which if allowed to happen eventually would have major consequences.
The law began 90 years ago with various payments to support farmers but now has an impact far beyond the farm, with programs to create wildlife habitat, address climate change and provide the nation’s largest federal nutrition program.
Ag coalition in disarray
The omnibus farm bill is more than a year behind schedule, as the bipartisan congressional coalition that has advanced farm bills for the last half century has been teetering on the edge of collapse.
Congress must approve a new federal farm bill every five years. The previous farm bill from 2018 expired a year ago. With no agreement in sight at the time, lawmakers extended the law to Sept. 30, 2024.
The delay creates further uncertainty for farmers, who are facing declining prices for many crops and rising costs for fertilizer and other inputs.
Lawmakers have some buffer before Americans feel the consequences of the expiration.
Most of the key programs have funding through the end of the calendar year, but once a new crop year comes into place in January, they would revert to “permanent law,” sending crop supports back to policy from the 1938 and 1949 farm bills.
Those policies are inconsistent with modern farming practices and international trade agreements and could cost the federal government billions, according to a recent analysis from the non-partisan Congressional Research Service.
‘Groundhog Day’ cited by Vilsack
The stalemate between Democrats and Republicans over the farm bill has centered on how to pay for it and whether to place limits on nutrition and climate programs.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters in a press call on Saturday that the process “feels like Groundhog Day” — because he keeps having the same conversations about it. Vilsack said Republicans “just don’t have the votes” on the floor for legislation passed in the House Agriculture Committee, which is why it has sat dormant in the House for four months.
“If they want to pass the farm bill they’ve got to get practical, and they either have to lower their expectations or raise resources. And if they’re going to raise resources, they have to do it in a way where they don’t lose votes, where they actually gain votes,” Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, said.
The Republican-led committee approved its farm bill proposal largely on party lines at the end of May, amidst complaints from Democrats that the process had not been as bipartisan as in years past.
Partisan division is not uncommon in today’s Congress but is notable on the farm bill, which historically brought together lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. Bipartisan support can be necessary for final passage because the size of the $1.5 trillion farm bill means it inevitably loses some votes from fiscal conservatives and others.
Shutdown threat
Lawmakers are on borrowed time with both the farm bill and the appropriations bills that fund the federal government.
The House and Senate both approved stopgap spending bills at the end of September to avoid a partial government shutdown. The short-term funding bill, sometimes referred to as a continuing resolution, or CR, will keep the federal government running through Dec. 20.
Some agriculture leaders had asked for the continuing resolution to not extend the farm bill, to help push the deadline for them to work on it when they return.
The day after they approved the CR and left the Capitol, 140 Republican House members sent a letter to congressional leadership asking to make the farm bill a priority in the waning weeks of 2024.
“Farmers and ranchers do not have the luxury of waiting until next Congress for the enactment of an effective farm bill,” the letter states, noting rising production costs and falling commodity prices that have put farmers in a tight spot.
House Democrats also say they want to pass a new farm bill this year.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, listed the farm bill as one of his top three priorities for the lame duck. Also on his list were appropriations and the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy for the Pentagon.
“It will be important to see if we can find a path forward and reauthorize the farm bill in order to make sure that we can meet the needs of farmers, meet the needs from a nutritional standpoint of everyday Americans and also continue the progress we have been able to make in terms of combating climate crisis,” Jeffries said in remarks to reporters Sept. 25.
Nearly 300 members of the National Farmers Union visited lawmakers in September to ask for passage of a new five-year farm bill before the end of 2024.
“Family farmers and ranchers can’t wait – they need the certainty of a new farm bill this year,” National Farmers Union President Rob Larew said in a statement after the meetings. “With net farm income projected at historic lows, growing concentration in the agriculture sector, high input costs and interest rates, and more frequent and devastating natural disasters, Congress can’t miss this opportunity to pass a five-year farm bill.”
Disagreements over SNAP formula
The key dispute for Democrats this year is a funding calculation that would place limits on the “Thrifty Food Plan” formula that calculates benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP.
It would keep SNAP payments at current levels but place a permanent freeze on the ability of future presidents to raise levels of food support. Democrats have characterized it as a sneaky cut to vital support for hungry Americans that makes the bill dead on arrival.
Republicans are using the limits as part of a funding calculation to offset other spending in the bill. The bill would raise price supports for some crops like cotton, peanuts and rice.
“They have to do one of two things,” Vilsack said of lawmakers. “They either have to recognize that they can’t afford all the things that they would like to be able to afford, if they want to stay within the resources that are in fact available … Or another alternative would be to find more money.”
Vilsack recommended finding other sources of funding outside the farm bill, like changes to the tax code.
“You close a loophole here or there in terms of the taxes or whatever, and you generate more revenue, and you have that revenue directly offset the increase in the farm bill. … That’s the correct way to do it. And that’s, frankly, the way Senator Stabenow is approaching the farm bill,” Vilsack said, referring to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.
The Senate Agriculture Committee has had no public markup or formal introduction of a bill. But leaders say committee staff have been meeting weekly to discuss a path forward. Stabenow has not publicly disclosed the offsets for the money she says is available to be moved into the bill.
